Turkey’s Kardemir has opened its new billet sales in the domestic market at a price $5/mt higher than previously. The supplier has announced its billet offers at $585/mt for S235JR grade and at $595/mt for B40 grade, both on ex-works basis. Kardemir has successfully sold close to 30,000 mt by the time of publication, which means that some buyers in the region needed to restock. Other suppliers in Turkish domestic billet market are mainly targeting prices at $590-600/mt ex-works, though not many customers find such levels attractive.
“There are not many import options and there is a feeling the prices will firm up, so local billet sellers are in no rush. Plus, their costs are quite high,” a source told SteelOrbis.
A export deal for 10,000 mt of billet from one of the mills in Donbass, the Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia, was lately done at $525/mt FOB, to an unconfirmed destination (excluding Turkey), according to sources. “I would say $535/mt FOB is too high for now, but we are going there,” a trader said. No new trades for ex-Russia or ex-Donbass billets have been reported to Turkey lately but, with an increase in the local market and the cautiously positive mood in the scrap segment, the tradable level for ex-Black Sea billet in Turkey will not be below $550-555/mt CFR, versus the previous levels of $535-540/mt CFR.
Given the most recent sale and the positive sentiments, the SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia billet has been increased further, by $5/mt on average from yesterday to $525-535/mt FOB. The level is $17.5/mt higher compared to late last week.
.jpeg)